Drama/Thriller about sad events in Basque Country in which happened terrorism , threats and grisly killings . It contains interesting scenes , great vibration , thrilling images and sensitive moments . The Basque Country in the 80s was an extremely dangerous place , especially for the Guardia Civil . As a young lieutenant Guardia Civil called Eloy (Quim Gutiérrez) married to Mercedes (Oona Chaplin) leaves his pregnant wife in her town and is assigned to Cuartel Inxaustrrondo . It is set during ¨Años Del Plomo¨ or ¨Lead Years¨ , when Guardia Civil is really shot and killed , and the people threatened by the terrorists due to his political views . There Eloy meets a motley group of brave underlings as Sergeant Delgado (Patxi Freytez) and Bermejo (Luis Zahera) . His chief commandant (Luis Bermejo) assigns him to undercover operations and he then goes as a tenant at a boarding house run by Begoña (Aura Garrido) and a warm feeling of mutual affection grows between her and her lodger . Sooon after , Eloy is having an affair with the young innkeeper Begoña . The movie ends declaring the following : After 50 years of activity and almost 1000 killings , in October 20, 2001 ETA announced a definitive truce , but has not delivered the weapons .
Moving drama/thriller plenty of emotion , suspense , intrigue , delusions , plot twists , excellent action scenes and real events about the dangerous Basque Country . As the starring exposes : This isn't ¨Fort Apache¨ , this is Vietnam . The picture depicts a nice portrayal about Basque Country , despite being somewhat of a cinematic cliché , rarely has a feature been so aptly deserving of its description as a thriller picture along with some elements from action genre , politics , intense drama and bloody terrorism . This fiction is based on a novel by former Secretary of State for Security , Rafael Vera , and is recreated in the historic headquarters of the Civil Guard of Intxaurrondo in San Sebastian , but being really shot in Avilés , Asturias , to avoid possible problems in the Basque Country . The picture is pretty well , but also has a few conventional pitfalls and a twisted as well as little credible final . Anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from main cast , Quim Gutiérrez and Aura Garrido , and special mention for Patxi Freytez as an understanding sergeant . And great support cast such as : Oona Chaplin , Luis Bermejo , Mariano Venancio , Cristina Plazas , Teresa Hurtado de Ory , Patrick Criado , and , of course , Luis Zahera .
But some Guardia Civil agents have criticized the mini-series , as those agents assigned to that barracks or who were in the past have not liked what they have seen on television . First thing that catches their attention is the presence of controls in the so-called "entrances" in roadblocks to detain Etarras , in fiction it is observed that in these operatives they participate lieutenants or colonels , when it is not so . They don't agree with the image of supposed tortures that are reflected in the series in dependencies of the Civil Guard . On the screen it was seen that these tortures took place in the dungeons of Intxaurrondo , but they report that in the Donostiarra barracks these temporary cells were not built until about ten years ago . Civil guards also complain that the series has not had the help of the real professionals who spent decades to stop ETA . If they had asked for help , they criticized, they would have recommended that the feeling of persecution of the civil guards in the street should be reflected on the screen . "We were singled out and insulted," they complain, "and that's not reflected in the series" .
The film packs a colorful cinematography by Felipe Alba and a thrilling as well as evocative musical score by Victor Reyes . The mini-series was compellingly directed by Salvador Calvo who has made successful TV Series and episodes such as ¨Lo Que Escondían Sus Ojos¨ , ¨Mario Conde¨ , ¨La Duquesa¨ , ¨Askrana¨ , ¨Paquirri¨ , ¨Cuentame Un Cuento¨ , and has directed for cinema the hit ¨Los Ultimos De Filipinas¨ .
